I liked learning about how Covid impacted Mosques and Muslims who wanted to pray together. It helped me better understand what a group of people different from me were going through during that hard time of not being able to see others in person. I liked how the Muslims created new ways of worship by… Continue reading 11/2 Notes The 5 Pillars

Hadith 47 talks about not taking back what you give, which goes back to emphasis in the 5 Pillars on charity, including if they have halfhearted or a complete lack of generosity. Also in Hadith 18, the idea is emphasized that sometimes giving to charity isn’t always just giving the minimum of 2.5 percent, but… Continue reading Selected Hadith reflection

Today we met as a group at Ling’s Oriental Martial Arts up in Noblesville to learn self-defense techniques and Tai Chi. When we first walked in, we were required to takeoff our shoes and put them in a bin next to the door. Master Ling didn’t explain to us the importance of being barefoot, but… Continue reading 11/04 ICR Reflection – Master Ling’s Oriental Martial Arts

Muhammad and Jesus are both prophets but they come from very different beginnings. Muhammad’s parents Amina and Abdullah are forced to be married by Abdul’l’Muttalib. Amina then becomes pregnant with Muhammad and during the pregnancy Abdullah dies. Jesus on the other hand is born to Mary and Joseph but even though Mary was with Joseph,… Continue reading Muhammad’s childhood vs Jesus’

Gigi’s father(Shamel)’s friend Maurice died suddenly when they were young, single adults. Maurice’s death causes him to want to get married. This chapter is all about the character Gina. Gina is Shamel’s favorite niece and he often shows favoritism towards her compared to her siblings. He goes out to eat with Gina and runs into… Continue reading “The Cairo House: Past as Prologue,” Summary and Analysis

When studying the Ḥadith, I think it is interesting, as we discussed in class on Thursday, that there were likely various stories about Muhammad that were passed on and as a result, legends developed as people would begin to debate these stories and things found in the Quran. Because of this, it makes sense that… Continue reading Hadith reflection and connections to Ha Jin’s “Flame”

I found some interesting points made in both of these readings’ excerpts. For the Hadith passages, most of the guidelines were strict but made sense for Islam followers. The first passage explains that Islam is an easy religion, which I made a point in class about since there’s many rules, it is clear and straightforward… Continue reading Hadith & Fiqh Akbar I Blog Post

I thought a very interesting point brought up in class yesterday was that most Americans (or those from Western countries in general) view Muslims and Islamic countries through an incredibly narrow, underdeveloped lens, never having been educated on the religion of Islam, it’s different branches such as Sunni and Shia, the Koran, or the laws… Continue reading Selected Hadith and Class Discussion Review

I wanted to write about Muslim funeral traditions after seeing many items used for a funeral one day during my ICR at Nur Allah.  I helped them move items used for funerals and they pointed out the room they use for preparations. There are some differences between Muslim funerals and more standard American funerals.  The… Continue reading Muslim Funeral Traditions

The first pillar is declaration of faith (shahada).  There are two shahadas: “There is no god but God” and “Muhammed is the messenger of God”.  These shahadas are typically said in Arabic.  They are said five times a day during the prayers.  They are also the first thing said to new babies and the last… Continue reading The Five Pillars of Islam